KUNSTRADIO - RADIOKUNST

In his 1985 essay
“Plunderphonics, or Audio Piracy as a Compositional
Prerogative”, Canadian artist and composer John Oswald
describes the cultural technique of creating a composition out of
existing audio material by transforming it and yet keeping a link to
the old recording of familiar music.

As
artist-in-residence of the organization Tonspur at the MuseumsQuartier
Vienna, Oswald has created a new sound installation for a public
passageway entitled “Ice Whispering”. On the
occasion of its opening on Sunday, 21 February 2010, Kunstradio
presents a radio play by John Oswald, which he produced in the 1990s
for the Nederlandse Omroepprogramma Stichting.

“Brazilianaires”
is Oswald’s account of a trip to Brazil and some unsettling
encounters and experiences during this trip. On the authenticity of the
story, Oswald notes that it was fictionalized in some points, like the
change of names and a compression of time, but the events (which at
that time had trouble believing that he wasn’t hallucinating)
are told according to his experience.

John
Oswald’s piece for Tonspur is called “Ice
Whispering”. It has associations with and allusions to ice
skating, which the artist had been observing on the ice rink in front
of Vienna’s Town Hall, however not by including the sounds of
skating but rather a transformed version of the famous waltz
Donauwalzer, slowed down to a hardly recognizable speed. The other
element of the sound installation are whispered words of greeting and
farewell in different languages.

Whispering is an
acoustic phenomenon that John Oswald appreciates as a useful musical
and communicative tool. It is, as he says, a sensuous sound and way of
communicating since it involves being physically close to the one you
whisper to in order to be understood.

“Whispered
Fields” is a sound piece which is part of an ongoing
photographic/cinematic project by John Oswald. Over the last 10 years
he has taken phots of ca. 1400 people, both in clothes and nude. Each
is photographed individually, the photos are then arranged in groups.
Some of the people were furthermore recorded describing themselves in
whispering. Again, a variety of languages is included.

“Brazilianaires”
credits:Written, produced, engineered and directed by John
Oswald (1994 & 1996) for Nederlandse Omroepprogramma StichtingExecutive
producer (for NOS): Michael Fahresrecorded @ Mystery
Laboratory, TorontoJohn Oswald is played by Valerie Buhagiarthe
Brazilians are played by Leon Kaplanthe Dutch are played by
Barbara Noskethe Germans are played by David Halverscheidtransvestite
& driver by Catherine Duncanson

recognizable
musical sources (in order of appearance):Girl From Ipanema by
Tom Jobim (the Astrud Gilberto version)slow Casa de Tauba
(Wooden House) by Duda da Passira (Music for Maids & Taxi
Drivers — Rounder CD5044)Brazilian National Anthem
is whistled by Maurio, & additionally played by the Regimental
Band of the Coldstream Guards (Denon Co-74501)Also Sprach
Zarathustra by Richard Strauss in 24 orchestra version by John Oswald
(1992)Carmen Miranda singing South American WayBrazeal
(chik-chika-boom) by Philip Strong (1995, commisioned for Brasilians)Herança
by Ratos de Porao (Gra vado Eldorado CD 584.002 (1992))documentation
of the performance of Sennecade (1994) in Brasilia was co-ordinated by
Michael Fahresall other material by John Oswald